Monday, September 13, 2010

The sleep update

My life these days is consumed with little more than the twins' sleeping habits. During the day, I am constantly focused on who is awake or asleep, and for how long, and strategize how to make those things happen at the same time for two babies. At night, I stare at the clock with bleary resignation and wonder what numbers will be flashing when the next baby cries.

It's exhausting, in every way possible.

I will say we seem to be moving in the right direction. Slowly.

The every-2-hour night feedings have stretched to 3-3.5 hours from our efforts. However, they are still waking in between and often require soothing, so I'm not really getting much more shut-eye. For example, last night:

6:30 pm - Gax to sleep
6:50 pm - Nix to sleep (over-tired?)
7:30 pm - Nix cries, 3 failed attempts to sooth him, brief cry-it-out
9:00 pm - Gax cries, I feed him then get Nix and feed him (dreamfeed)
10:00 pm - DH and I go to bed
11:20 pm - Nix cries, my Dad sooths him (of course I'm in bed awake during this)
1:15 am - Gax cries, I feed him then get Nix to feed him (diapers changed)
3:30 am - Gax cries, DH sooths him (again, I'm awake for this too)
4:30 am - Nix cries, I feed him then get Gax to feed him
7 am - Gax wakes up for the day, let the fun begin

Fun, right? No wonder I'm completely useless right now.

During the day, I decided to first focus on getting Gax to be a better (longer) napper before trying to coordinate him and Nix. That worked by following Dr. Weissbluth's advice of keeping Gax in the crib for one hour, even if he only naps for 30 minutes. I discovered that Gax would fuss/cry half-heartedly for about 5 minutes and then go back to sleep. It's been a few days, and now he'll just talk for a few minutes before snoozing again. Awesome! And he's happier these days because of it, too. So now Gax naps better, but we are still far from being on a regular schedule for both twins.

Did I mention I'm exhausted? Encouraged, but exhausted.

I haven't taken a ton of pictures lately because it seems all I'm doing is trying to coordinate naps, but I'll leave you with a few I was able to snap. (And don't forget to enter my third blogoversary giveaway!)

"Wait 'till they get a load of my blog. First post: How to leverage cuteness to derail sleep training. Ha ha!"



This seems a bit inefficient. At least my Mom labeled them.


I can't mention how long this many diapers lasts in our household, because it makes me weep. Costco loves us. One day, sweet cloth, I'll be back!


We recently had the entire main level of our house torn up for painting and new floor installation. (Pictures coming soon.) It was a disaster, but fortunately we kept the TV plugged in so the kids were entertained. More good parenting!


Happiness, thy name is jumperoo.


"Umm, Mom? Is this really necessary? It's only September."


Gax enjoys a Grandma hug.


Bumpa has all the cuteness he can carry.


The observer and the performer: a look into the next 18 years.


Sometimes there's nothing left to do but dance.



Photobucket

11 comments:

Kristina P. said...

I think you should try that method where you basically potty train them from day one, and never use diapers. I think that would be super effective.

Red said...

Gee, I love your pics! Adorable. Good luck with sleep. It'll get there but I am sure it is exhausting in the process.

Stef said...

I'm glad things are going a little bit better on the sleeping front! Also, can't wait to see the new floors. I love home renovation projects... especially when they're not in MY home :)

Your boys are all three adorable. Total cuteness.

Denise said...

Oh, man, I feel for you. Exhausted = bad, Encouraged = good. There is hope!

That picture of the monitors cracks me up! Do you have trouble with interference having 3 monitors in the house? I'm trying to decide what to get for baby #3 as we still use one video monitor for the twins (in the same room for naps and bedtime).

Jen said...

Just reading your post makes me tired! The diapers must be crazy. Is Bean in disposables still?

When Hayden came along Jeramy found a video monitor used online. It is awesome because you can put up to 4 rooms on just one monitor. What sucks is when you mix it up and get the wrong baby up, which Jeramy did do once.

Anonymous said...

Sunny,
I don't have twins, so I can't even imagine... but have you thought about not waking or dreamfeeding the second baby when the first wakes. It is just my opinion (and maybe it would be crazy hard for you since one at a time could potentially be awake all night long on you) but it seems like they will never get into a full night routine if they are being woken or moved around to eat. Mine are Irish twins, so I totally understand the frustration with scheduling! Good luck!

Elizabeth said...

Your nights look like mine x 2...! Wow.

That hat is just too adorable!!

Beautiful Mess said...

CUUUTE pictures! Could your boys be ANY cuter?!

Be encouraged, you're getting there. I'll send you some "sleep boys SLEEP" vibes.
*HUGS*

Laura & Brad said...

Goodness, I remember those sleepless nights. It is wonderful that you are able to provide such wonderful benefits for little guys. I wasn't so successful. Your little men look so big now! I am so happy for you.

Allison said...

Oh those cute boys! They are getting so big. I am so grateful I was able to spend that time with them. I just wish they would let you sleep already! Jeez!

..al said...

I say it again and again..and only because I feel it ... the pictures are awesome...Nix and Gax are doing fabulous, and Bean is cute as ever!